​When you’re operating new restaurant equipment, it can be confusing to understand the electrical specifi-cations. How do you calculate amps, volts, and watts? What exactly do all these numbers mean for your ap-pliances and how do they impact performance? Will your facility’s electricity be able to handle new equip-ment? Here’s a guide to answer these questions about help you make informed decisions regarding electric equipment for restaurant kitchens. ​

Amps in Restaurant Equipment

Amperes, commonly referred to as amps, measure electric currents. In technical terms, amps measure the speed of electrons per second. When using new appliances, you need to take into account the amp load of your facility’s circuits. For example, if you have a 30-amp circuit, the safe load is 24 amps. If you already have equipment that’s drawing 20 amps and you’re looking at something new with 120-volts that will draw 6 amps, you won’t be able to safely install it. Always confirm that your circuits will be able to manage any new appliances you want to connect. If you overload your circuits, you could start a fire.

Restaurant Appliance Voltage

Now you know that amps flow, but what makes them flow? The answer is voltage. Voltage is the term to de-scribe the force or pressure that causes electricity to flow. When installing a new piece of equipment, you’ll need to consider its voltage requirement, rated amp draw, and plug configuration. Most heavy-duty appli-ances in restaurant kitchens have 208- or 240- volt supplies. This creates more watts per amp as opposed to standard 120-volt equipment.

Wattage in Cooking Equipment

The last piece to understand is wattage, because when amps and volts combine, they result in watts. This is a measurement of how much energy is released. The higher the wattage, the more output and power. For instance, a commercial microwave with 3,000 watts will cook food much faster than a consumer microwave with 1,000 watts. In a lot of cases, watts remain the same while amp and voltage numbers vary. In fact, higher voltages can result in a higher wattage with lower amps. This is important to keep in mind when in-stalling commercial kitchen equipment.

The electricity of restaurant kitchens can be tricky to grasp, but hopefully, this guide puts things in perspec-tive. However, you may still run into some questions and issues here and there due to the complexity of restaurant equipment. If you have any problems with your restaurant equipment, you can contact the experts at Commercial Appliance Service Company to resolve them.
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